420 



NATURE 



[April i, 1922 



Current Topics and Events. 



The thirteenth Kelvin Lecture of the Institution 

 of Electrical Engineers by Sir Ernest Rutherford 

 on " Electricity and Matter " will be delivered at 

 6 o'clock on May i8, and not on May ii as previously 

 announced. 



Dr. Ernest Barker, Principal of King's College, 

 London ; Dr. A. E. Cowley, Oxford, Bodley's 

 Librarian ; and Dr. G. C. Simpson, Director of the 

 Meteorological Office, have been elected members of 

 the Athenaeum Club under the provisions of the rule 

 of the club which empowers the annual election by 

 the committee of a certain number of persons " of 

 distinguished eminence in science, literature, the arts, 

 or for public service." 



The library of the Rothamsted Experimental 

 Station, Harpenden, one of the best agricultural 

 libraries in the Empire, has recently been enriched 

 by a rare volume (believed to be the fii-st printed book 

 on agriculture in France) given by Lady Ludlow, who 

 has on several previous occasions made important 

 gifts to this institution. The volume is entitled " Le 

 livre des prouffitz champestres et ruraulx," and was 

 printed by Pierre de Sainte Lucie at Lyons in 1539. 

 It is of special interest in view of the influence exerted 

 by the French agricultural authors of a somewhat 

 later period on the Elizabethan agricultural writers 

 in this country, whose influence in turn lasted almost 

 to Victorian times. 



Captain Amundsen's plans for his new Arctic 

 Expedition for drifting across the polar basin in the 

 Maud are now complete. The Times announces that 

 Capt. Amundsen has left Norway to rejoin his ship 

 at Seattle, where it has been refitted for the voyage. 

 Sailing on June i, Capt. Amundsen expects to enter 

 the ice near Wrangell Island at the end of July, and 

 hopes to reach Greenland or Spitsbergen in four or 

 perhaps five years' time. The crew will consist of ten 

 all told, including one Eskimo. An aeroplane for 

 reconnaissance work is to be carried. The ship's 

 wireless equipment has been much strengthened and 

 now has a radius of 2000 miles. It is expected that 

 the high-power station at Stavanger will be able 

 to reach the Maud throughout its voyage. Capt. 

 Amundsen proposes to send daily weather messages 

 via Washington. 



The summer meeting of the Institution of Electrical 

 Engineers at the Scottish centre will be held at 

 Glasgow on May 30-June 2 next. A paper will be 

 read on May 31 at the University of Glasgow by 

 Prof. Magnus Maclean on the hydro-electric resources 

 of the Scottish Highlands, and the remainder of the 

 meeting will be spent in visiting works and electrical 

 installations. Arrangements have been made for 

 tours of inspection of a number of power stations and 

 works in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, and a two-day 

 excursion will be made to Oban and Kinlochleven, 

 where the British Aluminium Company's hydro- 

 electric installation will be visited. 



NO. 2735, VOL. 109] 



A summary of temperature, rainfall, and sunshine 

 for the several districts of the United Kingdom for 

 the winter season comprised by the 13 weeks from 

 November 27, 1921, to February 25, 1922, was given 

 in the Weekly Weather Report ending February 25. 

 The mean temperature for the period was in excess 

 of the average in all districts, the greatest excesses 

 being 2°'8 F. in the north and south of Ireland, and 

 2°-2 F. in the English Channel district. In the south- 

 east of England the excess was i°-4 Y. The least 

 excess in any district was o°-7 F. in the east of 

 Scotland and the north-east of England. The rain- 

 fall was in excess of the average for the winter in all 

 districts except in the south-east and south-west of 

 England and in the English Channel. The deficiency 

 in the south-east of England was only o-i6 in., but 

 in the other two districts it amounted to 1-4 in. 

 In the west of Scotland the excess was 3-70 in., the 

 rainfall measurement being 17-98 in. The duration 

 of bright sunshine was generally in fair agreement 

 with the normal. 



The exhibition of travel films, now being held at 

 the Philharmonic Hall, London, under the direction 

 of Brig. -General Sir Percy Sykes, is due to the enter- 

 prise and enthusiasm of a number of soldiers and 

 explorers. The idea which inspired the undertaking 

 is an excellent one and it is being' admirably carried 

 out. Each series of pictures is being produced by 

 men who possess special qualifications for the task, 

 and the journey is to be described either by the leader 

 of the expedition or by a traveller well acquainted 

 with the country. The exhibition, therefore, is of 

 great educational value, and in many respects it differs 

 entirely from the ordinary picture show. In the case 

 of Burma, the pictures (by the Solar Films Co.) have 

 been carefully selected in order to give a vivid con- 

 ception of the various aspects of the people and the 

 country. The wonderful Schwe Dagon Pagoda near 

 Rangoon is first shown, and then scenes on the river 

 Irrawaddy and in the hill country round Bhamo, 

 followed by a thrilling railway journey through the 

 tropical forest and across the Gokteik Bridge. On the 

 way back to Rangoon the Royal Palace and shrines at 

 Mandalay are shown. In the course of the journey 

 the natives are seen weaving silk, climbing trees to get 

 orchids, rowing boats with their legs instead of their 

 arms, and directing elephants engaged in moving teak 

 logs'. The pictures, assisted by Maj.-Gen. Dunster- 

 ville's interesting explanations, leave a clear impres- 

 sion on the mind alike of the country, the people, and 

 the conditions under which the Burmese live. This 

 exhibition is to be followed by travel films of Morocco, 

 Andalusia, Timbuctu, the Land of the Incas, and 

 Persia. 



Sir Robert Robertson gave an instructive survey 

 of the work and scope of a scientific society in his 

 presidential address to the West Kent Scientific 

 Society on February 27. During the last four years 

 forty-six papers have been read before the society, 

 and of these nearly one-third have dealt with subjects 



